Morris, Shepherd, Sandwich, Coal City, Wolfpack wrestlers compete in state tournaments

The Illinois Elementary School Association held one of the handful of statewide youth wrestling tournaments scheduled for this past and this coming weekend, the IESA State Tournament contested Friday and Saturday at DeKalb’s Convocation Center.

Morris’ Parker Barry and Malachi Congo both recorded Class AA individual IESA championships. Congo went 4-0 with a 12-4 major decision victory in the 185-pound title match, while Barry went 4-0 with a 9-0 major decision to claim the title at 90 pounds.

Parker Valentine (70 pounds) added a third-place finish for Morris.

Ottawa Shepherd saw a pair of competitors place in the top four of their Class AA brackets. Mayson Munson (85 pounds) went 4-1 in the IESA State Tournament, winning his third-place match via a 4-1 decision. Dakota Harmon (75) went 3-2 to finish fourth.

Sandwich scored two third-place finishes in Class A – Jaxson Blanchard (119) and Jaxon Brunoehler (75).

For Coal City, Brantley Brooks (75 pounds), Ryder Gill (80) and Phoenix Senodenos (100) all recorded fifth-place finishes in Class A.

The area also had young wrestlers competing in the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation (IKWF) Senior/Novice State Championships held in Rockford over the weekend.

Those scoring top-five finishes included Cale Dauber (novice 74 pounds) and Carter Noonan (senior 74) each placing second and Landyn McEmery (senior 164) wrestling to fifth place, all representing the Ottawa Wolfpack WC.